The New York Mets took sole possession of 2nd place in the NL East, Monday, after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies.

After a weekend that left much promise for the Mets offense, the next you know, the team has one run on two hits through five innings. Still, the power surge unexpectedly continued, despite the slow start.

New York has now hit 11 home runs in four games on this road trip. They had two homers in their first eight games of the season.

The batting, combined with Noah Syndergaard’s utter domination and efficient pitching appears to be a nice winning formula for this New York team, like I said.

Oh Captain, My Captain

David Wright should consider buying a house in Philadelphia, because he hits their about as good as anyone else.

Actually, better than anyone else. Coming in to Monday’s game, The Captain was a lifetime .291 hitter a CBP.

Nothing changed. Wright provided first-inning offense for the fourth straight game, as he smashed his first bomb of the season to opposite field in right, a no-doubter, which I also called.

What I didn’t call, though, was the second homer he crushed to the exact same spot in right. It was his second of the game, his second of the season, his 22nd a CBP and his second RBI on the year, too.

To be frank, that man out there looked like 2007 David Wright, not 2016 spinal stenosis Wright. It appears the back condition has left Cap less hobbled than fans expected.

Thor’s World

In his third start of the season, Thor didn’t have his best stuff.

Still, without a sharp command on his breaking balls, the rising ace still managed to go 7.0 innings, allowing five hits and two walks on just 94 pitches. He struck out eight, bringing his season’s total to 29, as he now sits with a 0.90 ERA.

You wouldn’t think it was possible, but Thor’s velocity rose on every pitch from his first two starts. From the first inning to his seventh and final frame, Syndergaard four seam fastball was sitting at 100-101 mph, ready to be followed up with a 92 mph changeup, or 94 mph slider.

With the win, the 23-year-old phenom moves to 2-0 on the season, after taking a hard luck no decision in last week’s start.

“When you used to play videogames as a kid, if you build the player that you want to build, put all the abilities up to like max 10, he’s that guy.”

Duda Dinger

Lucas Duda is lost.

That was, until last night, when Duda popped out in his first at-bat, leaving a man in scoring position. He was 2-for-his-last-19, though he did have a two-run double Sunday in Cleveland.

Then, everything changed.

In the sixth inning, after Yoenis Cespedes tripled with two outs, Duda finally stepped up, making major league plays. He doubled Cespedes home, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. That was the fourth hit of the game for New York, and the fourth extra base hit.

Duda wasn’t done just yet. In the eighth inning, he mashed his first ‘Duda Dong’ of the season, hitting the baseball about as hard as one possibly can, sending it the second deck of CBP in a matter of seconds. According to Statcast, the ball left his bat at 111.6 mph, the second-hardest hit ball of the 2016 season.